Putting in the call to resist sleazy, deceptive political polling

Every successful and unsuccessful candidate has at least one story of being the victim during their campaign of some unfairness perpetrated by their opponent.

Sometimes these complaints are valid, but all too often these incidents are less attempts by opponents to confuse or deceive than simply the honest differences between two candidates fighting for the same job.

Then again, sometimes things are done in campaigns that seriously ought to sicken voters.

Such is the case of those campaigns and candidates who allow so-called "push polls" to be used on their behalf.

This year, in nearly a half-dozen races for Massachusetts House of Representatives, these ugly "push polls" have been used to poison the political waters and spread misinformation about the voting records of incumbent moderate Democrats throughout the state.

Let's be clear.

"Push polls" are not attempts to either gather information like legitimate polling, or to compare and contrast the positions of competing candidates in order to ascertain the attitudes and opinions of those being surveyed.

For example, if it is factually correct that one candidate in a given contest is pro-choice and their opponent in the same race is anti-choice, it is perfectly acceptable for a pollster to ask: If the election were held today, and Candidate X supported a woman's right to choose and Candidate Y opposed a woman's right to choose, for which candidate would you vote? If the issue is not one that matters to you, or if you have no opinion, just say so.

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This is clearly not a "push poll."

The question and the questioner takes no position on the issue.

The question is balanced in its presentation and clearly meant to gather information and not to influence the person called.

But take a different issue and put it in the hands of a push pollster. Instead of balance and information, the push poll is intended to influence and deceive.

For example, it is absolutely unacceptable for a legitimate pollster to ask: If the election were held today, and you discovered Candidate X supported both House Bill 3400, "a measure created to stifle further EBT welfare-card reform," as well as House Bill 3535, "a transportation finance measure created to raise gas taxes by $500 million," would you be more likely to vote for Candidate X or not?

Duh!

Put aside that there is no such legislation as either House 3400 or House 3535, ask yourself how many folks are going to say they don't want either effective reforms regarding the "abuse" of anything, including welfare, or think it's just a swell idea to raise the taxes on gasoline by $500 million?

Zero.

And that's the point.

The push pollster just wants you to believe the candidate they oppose supports these non-existent measures knowing that just by spreading the tainted information about them will make you less likely to support that candidate.

The king of push polling in Massachusetts this year appears to be an outfit apparently calling itself Advantage Polling.

According to research done by the Massachusetts Democratic Party on the company and its many subsidiaries, Advantage Polling has been fined in the past for breaking anti-robo calling laws in North Dakota and has been banned via judicial ruling from phoning voters in Indiana.

And for whom are they doing this push polling, which they gallingly inform callers who inquire is "unbiased" polling research?

Turns out the group is the Mass. Fiscal Alliance, a group that claims to be a non-partisan yet whose so-called Legislative Fiscal Scorecard magically rates the lowest score of any Republican in the state at 88 percent while the average Democratic legislator scores closer to 10 percent.

So, if you get a call that begins, "Good evening, I'm calling from Advantage Polling..." Do yourself a favor and just hang up.

The only thing you'll be missing is the lowest form of political misinformation.

Michael Goldman is a paid political consultant for Democratic candidates and president of Goldman Associates in Boston.

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